There’s no such thing as happy crampers

Maggie Barton puts electrolyte tablets in her water during exercise in hot weather to avoid dehydration and muscle cramps. (Ron Baselice/Dallas Morning News/MCT)

By leslie barker
mcclatchy-tribune

Published: August 4, 2014;Last modified: August 4, 2014 11:30PM

The cramping began in Maggie Barton’s toes during a tennis playoff match six summers ago. It swept up her body like a torrent, overtaking her calves and her entire body, leaving in its wake excruciating pain and an inability to move her arms.

“My arms were around a bench, and it took three people to get me off of it,” says Barton, 39, of Dallas. “You’re not in control. It’s really, really painful, and it’s scary. You feel like it’s going to go to your heart.”

Though cramping can happen in any season, it’s especially prevalent during summer. Heat, humidity and an imbalance of electrolytes can bring down anyone — even and especially elite athletes like LeBron James, who was debilitated by cramps during the NBA finals. That’s because the elite often try to push through cramps; everyday athletes tend to stop once they feel cramps beginning.

Though James got scoffs for leaving the game, those who know about cramping also know he had no choice.

“You can pass judgment on the dramatics,” says Scott Galloway, an athletic trainer at an area branch of Texas Health Ben Hogan Sports Medicine. “But what you can’t pass judgment on is the level of fatigue and the actual injury.”

What causes it?

Full-body cramping is the way the body lets you know, “Hey, I can’t handle any more,” he says. “If your brain doesn’t tell you to stop, your body will. It’s one thing to get a cramp in the bed in your calf. You pull your toes back, and it stretches and goes away. But when an elite athlete starts experiencing cramping, your body is basically shutting down and you’re going into a form of exhaustion.”

Physically, continuing isn’t an option, says Cindy Trowbridge of the University of Texas at Arlington. During cramping, muscles tighten so much “you’re almost in rigor mortis without the death.” Moving your arms and legs, like trying to unfurl someone’s hand in rigor mortis, is all but impossible, she says.

She describes cramping as the nervous system being “on overdrive. In particular, the motor nerves that cause the muscle to contract are shortened. It’s like putting your foot on the accelerator and revving the car’s engine.”

Normally, the body would say, “How much contraction do I need?” and shuts off when it needs to shut off, she says.

“But this time, the muscles are contracted and are contracting so hard and so fast, it ends up in a positive feedback loop. Your body turns on more cramping.

“You’re dehydrated. What that does is not only cause water loss but an electrolyte imbalance.”

Electrolytes

In other words, you can be hydrated but your electrolytes can be off. Barton says she was diligent about drinking water that first summer she succumbed to cramps. A native of Colorado, she hadn’t experienced summers like those in Texas.

“I had been drinking a ton because everybody said to drink, drink, drink,” says Barton.

“But nobody mentioned electrolytes. Now I overdo with electrolytes because once you’ve cramped, your body tends to cramp earlier.”

She also leaves the tennis court the moment she starts cramping.

Who is prone?

Some people may have a predisposition to cramping, Trowbridge says, but there’s still no telling who will.

“What causes you to get them when someone next to you is losing the same amount of water and electrolytes, but isn’t getting them?” she says. “We’re different. We digest things differently; we sweat certain amounts.”

In addition, some people are salty sweaters, whereas others don’t sweat as much salt.

Other people may be deficient in calcium, so that mineral could be a trigger for them, he says. Just as vague as the cause is the solution. Some people swear by bananas, some by yellow mustard. Barton says people call her the “pickle juice girl” because she always has a bottle of the salty liquid in her bag.“If anyone ever tells you they have the cure for cramps, they’re lying,” Trowbridge says. “Maybe for a few athletes they tested, something worked. I’m not saying it didn’t.”